Rome has canceled a deliberate visit to the US by its overseas minister amid a row with Washington
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused Donald Trump of fabricating a story about her after the US president claimed she had “begged” him for a photo throughout this week’s G7 summit in France.
In response to a dubbed Italian-language model of a telephone interview launched by broadcaster La7 on Friday, Trump prompt Meloni had been determined to pose with him throughout the gathering in Evian, and that he agreed solely “out of pity.”
The remarks triggered a pointy response from Meloni, who dismissed Trump’s account as “fully fabricated.”
“I’m frankly astonished. I don’t perceive why the president of the USA behaves this manner along with his allies,” Meloni stated in a video assertion posted on X on Friday. “I and Italy by no means beg,” she added.
Italian Overseas Minister Antonio Tajani additionally took to X to announce that he was canceling a deliberate journey to the US scheduled for June 21-22.
”The intense and offensive phrases of President Trump in the direction of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” the diplomat wrote.
Meloni was lengthy regarded as one of Trump’s closest allies amongst European leaders and as a bridge between Washington and Brussels. She was the one European head of authorities to attend Trump’s inauguration in 2025. Relations have deteriorated in current months, nonetheless, amid disagreements over Iran and Meloni’s protection of Pope Leo XIV after Trump attacked the pontiff over his criticism of the battle on the Islamic Republic.
The general public conflict got here simply days after the 2 leaders appeared to patch up months of disagreements on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
In response to Euronews, European Council President Antonio Costa joked throughout a dialog with the pair that Trump and Meloni have been “buddies once more.”
“Now we have at all times been buddies,” Meloni replied. “I used to be deserted,” Trump responded. “No, you weren’t,” Meloni stated.
The anecdote in regards to the Italian prime minister got here as Trump launched a broader critique of EU insurance policies throughout his dialog with La7.
“The Europeans have gotten the whole lot improper on power and immigration,” the US president stated, in line with the broadcaster. He described immigration as “a catastrophe,” dismissed Europe’s renewable-energy agenda as a failure, and argued that until these points have been addressed, “Europe will most likely by no means be the identical once more.”
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